It is common practice to combine electric motors and gear reduction systems to reduce system speed to a desired operating point. All gear systems have an internal loss of rotational motion called backlash. Errors created by system backlash make it impossible for a controller to accurately position a load connected to the gearbox if the only source of position information is attached to the motor. A common solution adds an additional position feedback device on the load side as the master position reference. This configuration of motor and sensors is widely used, it does not take full advantage of the information available to improve the control system performance.